1441580
Retinoblastoma or eye cancer is within the classification of rare or infrequent diseases, but it exists and that is why parents must be vigilant. A small white spot in one or both eyes of the child is a warning sign to be evaluated in a specialized ophthalmological consultation.
“At the Luis Razetti Oncology Hospital we receive from four to eight cases a month. This year, in one month, only Lara’s patients came to the clinic. We have noticed a high incidence of retinoblastoma in that area of the country, many live in agricultural areas, but others are in the city. A scientific study is what would determine if there is a genetic focus and would serve to make a more specific screening”, explained Livia Romero, pediatric ophthalmologist and the only specialist in Venezuela who treats these tumors.
For this reason, Lara state was chosen as a pilot region for the 1st Retinoblastoma Awareness Day, an initiative of @retinoblastomave, which had the support of more than 30 doctors, pediatric ophthalmologists, retinologists, and ophthalmology residents.
It was held at the Rotary Hospital of Barquisimeto on Saturday, August 6, where 253 children were evaluated free of charge, under the coordination of Dr. Livia Romero, who directs the Ocular Oncology Unit at the Luis Razetti Oncology Hospital, in Caracas, a National reference institution and the only public center in the country that treats pediatric patients with retinoblastoma and other ophthalmological diseases.
“The intention of this screening is to raise awareness about the disease and educate parents so that they take their children to ophthalmological consultations from birth to have an early diagnosis, not only of retinoblastoma, but of any other disease that if diagnosed in time It will allow to prevent visual disability”, expressed Romero.
Importance of early diagnosis
Livia Romero explained that retinoblastoma can cause total vision loss or even death if not treated in time. Hence the importance of detecting any warning sign as early as possible, even in newborns, even more so when they are premature.
He explained that every newborn should be taken to an ophthalmological consultation as a preventive measure. He noted that in addition to the white spot in one or both eyes, parents can be alerted if they don’t respond to light, have a lot of tearing, one eye is larger than the other, they’re different colors, or one eye deviates, though not be permanent.
“There can be more than 20 known diseases, hence the importance of diagnosis. When the white spot appears on the iris, it can mean that the tumor has grown, which is why it is important to detect it beforehand, to save the child’s vision and her life, ”insists the specialist.
For their part, Andreina Ramos and Rafael Riera, the faces behind @retinoblastomave and parents of a child cancer survivor, explained that the main motivation is to become the voice of this silent disease that is curable when diagnosed early.
The experience of life with their son prompted them to organize a successful day that had the endorsement of the Venezuelan Society of Ophthalmology and an alliance with the Rotary Barquisimeto Nueva Segovia, who channeled the spaces of the Rotary Hospital, where consultations were carried out together with their volunteers and nursing staff.
Within the group of doctors who participated in the conference were: Angela Catari, Manola Fernandez, Edwin Martinez, Fahir Duran, Carla Rojas, Aura Alvarez, Evelyn Vásquez, Elias Mubayed, Maria Rojas, Ixmucane Rivas, Raul Domini, María Fernanda Graterol, Jorge Sarmiento, Naretzu Pichardo, Ingrid Monasterios, as well as the ophthalmology residents at the Agustín Zubillaga Pediatric Hospital in Barquisimeto, the Domingo Luciani Hospital and the Lídice Hospital in Caracas.
The intention of the conference, which they intend to replicate in the rest of the country, is to educate and encourage ophthalmological check-ups in children from the moment of birth and to publicize the importance of the main ophthalmological check-ups before they are five years old.
Keren TorresWest
Keren TorresWest